HANOVER, New Hampshire — Ryan Wilson, CEO & Co-Founder of one of the fastest rising private membership clubs – The Gathering Spot, recently was selected to speak at Dartmouth College to their Undergrad and Tuck MBA students.

Ryan discussed his entrepreneurial journey and the process of starting his business highlighting several key points and lessons such as the fact ‘your idea is not a business model, you have to figure out how that idea makes money’. One of the most memorable aspects of Ryan’s speech was the motivating factor for this African-American young professional (under 30) to launch his 7-figure brand… a Jay-Z tweet.

In July of 2013, Jay-Z tweeted that his biggest entrepreneurial lesson learned was ‘don’t listen to anyone, everybody is scared.’ This social media post lit fire in the undergrads body to push forward and begin the process of creating a business model that is disruptive, unique and culture shifting. Ryan partnered with his then Georgetown roommate TK Petersen and developed The Gathering Spot – an award winning, highly acclaimed private membership club. Dartmouth (being one of the nations most prestigious Ivy League colleges) and their business students, will forever remember the young man who referenced pop culture to building a successful start up business.

The Gathering Spot is an award-winning private membership club in Atlanta. The acclaimed facility, located minutes from the new Mercedes-Benz stadium, is an invitation-only, avant-garde, private membership club built to foster culture, community, collaboration and one-of-a-kind experiences. The club brings together a diverse community of creatives, disruptors, entrepreneurs, and corporate professionals who utilize the club’s restaurant, bar, co-working and events spaces as well as networking with like-minded professionals.

Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen, two 27-year old African-American men who were once roommates at Georgetown University, founded the club with a vision to reinvent the city club experience. The duo raised north of three million dollars of private capital from investors over the course of two years to open The Gathering Spot.

After completing the build-out of a former historic railroad landmark, the club is now home to over 1,500 members and has established itself as a home for Atlanta’s creative class, business professionals, and entrepreneurs.

In addition, the space has hosted over 2,000 events with brands such as Google, Netflix, Spotify, and Coca-Cola; as well as curating members-only experiences with celebrities including Ludacris, T.I., movie producer Will Packer, Atlanta’s new Mayor – Keisha Lance Bottoms and Civil Rights Leader Ambassador Andrew Young.

After two years of being the cities top connectors between the entertainment, sports, corporate and political markets, the dynamic pair announced that they will take the successful business model to where the idea began, in the heart of D.C.